Jalen Milroe found his confidence. It saved Alabama’s season

Jalen Milroe hates taking credit publicly.

Even after a game like the the Alabama quarterback had Nov. 11 against Kentucky, where he dealt with a thigh injury all game but still managed to complete 15 of 22 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns, plus another three scores on the ground..

“I got a lot of things I gotta fix,” Milroe said that day in Lexington, which ended in a 49-21 win for the Crimson Tide. “I’m not satisfied with that performance. I got a lot of things I gotta improve on.”

Milroe’s favorite talking point throughout the 2023 season is to insist that he and the Tide are “not a finished product.” He said it after that Kentucky game.

A quick look through postgame transcripts shows he also used the line following wins over LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas, Chattanooga and Texas A&M. He’s also trotted it out for five midweek press conferences throughout the season.

From afar, you’d almost believe the redshirt sophomore doesn’t believe in himself. Then, after he completed a miracle touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond on fourth-and-goal from the Auburn 31 Saturday to win the Iron Bowl, a crack in the facade.

As time expired, Milroe tore off his helmet and headed for midfield. He’d thrown for 259 yards, rushed for 100 more, and his team had just won a thriller.

“Give me the Heisman,” Milroe exclaimed. “Give me that m***********.”

‘I gotta get better’

The prospect of Milroe as one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks was left for dead in Week 2. Alabama lost to Texas and the Lone Star State native had an abysmal game.

He threw two interceptions, both ugly. He generally looked indecisive, and was the most visible element of a rough Crimson Tide performance.

“I gotta get better,” a forlorn Milroe said afterward. “I gotta improve. I gotta protect the ball. I gotta continue to lead.”

Head coach Nick Saban admitted he’d considered making a change at quarterback.

“I can’t sit here and say the thought doesn’t come to mind for any player that is having a difficult time,” Saban said.

The next week at South Florida, he pulled the trigger. Milroe didn’t start.

He didn’t even play. Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner got the start before being replaced by Ty Simpson.

It went poorly. Heavily favored Alabama limped to a 17-3 win over the Bulls, fell in the AP and coaches polls despite the victory, and it became clear that Buchner and Simpson weren’t the answer.

Milroe still held the locker room’s trust. Even with the other two signal-callers above him on the depth chart for the game, it was Milroe who broke down the position group’s huddle in the Raymond James Stadium tunnel before taking the field for warmups.

On the Monday before Alabama’s SEC opener against Ole Miss, Saban made it official. The race to replace Bryce Young as the Crimson Tide’s full-time starter was over.

“Jalen really showed the leadership that I was looking for during the game in terms of supporting his teammates and doing the things he needed to do,” Saban said. “He’s had the opportunity to play. So have the other guys. Jalen played the best of all those guys, so I think he’s earned the opportunity to be the quarterback.”

‘A lot to do with confidence’

Entering SEC play, the questions about Milroe weren’t going anywhere. Sure, he’d looked better than his fellow QBs, especially in a season-opening win over Middle Tennessee State, but spirits were down in Tuscaloosa about the Tide’s 2023 prospects.

Still, Milroe had never lost his teammates’ trust.

“He’s very encouraging,” offensive guard Tyler Booker said in October. “That’s one of the things about Jalen that really inspires us as an offensive line, the team. You’ll never be able to tell if Jalen missed his read or threw an interception. He’s always upbeat, always happy. He’s always keeping us engaged and motivated, so matter what was the result of the last drive, he’s always coming up with a smile on his face.”

The Ole Miss game became a launch pad for both Alabama and its quarterback. After a week of Lane Kiffin-created sideshows, Milroe went 17 for 21 for 225 yards and a touchdown in a 24-10 Alabama win.

He scored two rushing touchdowns against Mississippi State the next week. Then he found his passing touch at Texas A&M, going for 321 yards and three scores through the air.

Milroe stopped looking hesitant, like he was afraid to mess up. Combined with speedy receivers like Jermaine Burton and Isaiah Bond, he developed the ability to take the top off of nearly every defense he faced.

“I think honestly just the raw talent that Jalen Milroe has to be able to throw the ball deep,” Bond said in October when asked what made the Tide so deadly on the long throws. “Obviously, physical look-wise, you see he’s a bigger dude, bigger quarterback and also he has great receivers as well, that’s able to stretch the field so it’s a tale of two ends.”

The quarterback, still a dangerous runner as well, is now receiving Heisman hype, with a real chance of at least making the trip to New York. The team has grown around him as well, Alabama still has a shot at making the College Football Playoff.

On Saturday, the Tide will play in the SEC championship. It enters the game 11-1 overall, 8-0 in conference play.

None of that happens without Milroe finding his way.

“I think it’s a lot to do with confidence,” Saban said in November. “And I think it has to do with experience. Experience is nothing but an accumulation of all the mistakes that we’ve made in the past, right? It’s all of us — me, you guys, everybody. So when you learn from all those things, which Jalen has, and he’s done a really good job of that, and you stay positive, then you start to develop confidence "

Milroe’s confident now. Confident enough to call for the Heisman after an Iron Bowl he’d thrown two touchdowns in.

But he’s not cocky. When he’d had time to compose himself afterward, the quarterback was already thinking about what could have gone better.

“I gotta clean up some things from this game,” Milroe said later, in the depths of Jordan-Hare Stadium. “I let my emotions get the best of me. But you know it’s the 24-hour rule with this game. I’m trying to fix some things from this game and try to improve for next week.”

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